Home
by copycat-capycot
Summary: Two people to make a home. A home to make a life. And you? You get to see snippets of that life. #2: "There is a cat in our dryer."
1. Home I

One thing they're both good at is running away.

Kanda runs away first. Allen had expected for that to happen, but that doesn't stop him from staying up late in bed, reading glasses on, eyes seeing none of the words in front of him. He keeps a cup of tea on the little table next to the bed as he nurses the small hope that Kanda will come back in any minute and snap at him for letting the tea get cold. So of course the one night that Kanda does come back is the same night that Allen falls sleep, head on his pillow and nose stuck in the air, book tumbled from his hands.

Kanda sighs quietly and removes the glasses. Gets into bed. Sleeps.

Allen wakes up to the sound of the fan in the kitchen and soft piano music playing. He scrambles to see Kanda standing in shorts, frying bacon to the sound of the radio on the counter. His hair is tied up and his eyes are dark, but Allen feels nothing less than a rush of affection. The little anger that he had hidden inside of his heart is completely eradicated by the sight of the sunlight streaming in from the window and Kanda turning to look at him, saying, "Get the plates out, I'm almost done."

They eat bacon with rice, wilted cabbage, and leftover beansprouts from the refrigerator. They do not bring up Kanda's vanishing act. Allen convinces Kanda to call a sick day, never mind that he had contacted the employer the day Kanda left and found out that Kanda had quit his job and neglected to pick up his last paycheck. The two of them sit together on the couch and watch brain-numbing cartoons before Kanda drops his head onto Allen's shoulder and closes his eyes.

There are dark shadows Allen has never seen before. He doesn't know what to do. He is lost.

So Allen runs away.

Not immediately, of course. He waits a week until Kanda has settled back in the house, pouring over job applications while furrowing his brow. That is how he leaves Kanda-sitting at the dining table, furrowing his brow. He runs away and it is a most glorious feeling, running down the sidewalk and feeling the wind brush his pale hair back. He breathes heavily, stops. Turns around in a circle.

Keeps walking.

Allen comes back on a Monday. Kanda stares up at him, chopsticks only an inch away from his mouth. He is in the middle of dinner, a simple meal of salmon, rice, and pickled vegetables. There is a rice grain on the corner of his mouth and he is so beautiful that Allen leans in and fondly kisses the rice grain.

"I'm home," he says.

"Hmph," is Kanda's reply. "Didn't know you even left." He sets the chopsticks down and levels a glare at Allen, his words inconsistent with the smoldering fury in the fine lines of his face.

Allen notices for the first time that Kanda has set the table for two.

He smiles. Kanda huffs.

"Welcome back."


	2. Cat

"There is a cat in our dryer."

Allen looks up from his newspaper. "What was that?"

"There is a cat in our dryer," Kanda repeats. Blinks. "It's getting fur all on the clothes."

Because he hears what Kanda is not saying, Allen reluctantly puts down the newspaper and follows Kanda to the garage. The dryer is a clunky old thing, a hand-me-down with a dent in one side, and the door is open to reveal a softly purring black cat curled up on the sheets.

"How'd you get in?" Allen laughs despite himself, and he stoops to stretch out a hand toward the cat. Lets it sniff his fingers before twitching its whiskers and allowing him to stroke its head, focusing on the back of the ears.

Meanwhile Kanda is fidgeting, crossing and uncrossing his arms.

Allen glances up to notice the open garage door and a soda can on top of the dryer, and puts it all together.

Kanda usually opened the door whenever he was doing chores in the garage, claiming that he felt claustrophobic without actually saying so, and he must have left after doing so to grab a soda. And he wouldn't say any of this partially because he hated explaining himself and partially because he didn't want to admit he had left to get a soda. "Too sweet," his murderous glare had said when Allen had offered him one last week.

The cat closes its eyes when Allen begins to scratch under its chin, and dark fur falls gently onto the clean clothes, the current focus of Kanda's attention. Allen sighs contentedly; he's always wanted a pet.

So of course...

"Let's adopt it."

* * *

**copycat-capycot**: Hello everyone. I won't be posting author notes unless I have something urgent to share. I do not have a set schedule for this story; I will try to update at least every other week, but I'm really writing this on a whim. Also if you were a previous follower/reader of mine, I will not be uploading my old stories. Well, that's it for now. Thank you for all of your support.


	3. Time

"Good night."

Allen's gray eyes flicker up, waiting for a response. When he doesn't get one, he turns over and pulls the blanket over his shoulder. Within a minute, his breathing deepens and Kanda watches.

"Good night."

Kanda ignores Allen's soft murmur until he is gone, and then he strokes the snow-white hair and tries not to regret.

"Good night."

He tugs on his gloves-an old habit-and Lenalee helps him with his coat. There is a hint of hot chocolate on her upper lip. There was a time when Allen would have wanted nothing more than to brush Lenalee's lip, maybe even lean in and lick away the sweetness himself. But Lavi appears at her elbow and he notices the chocolate, grins and rubs her face without a warning. For a moment, they are distracted, and Allen slips out the door.

"Good night."

He tries not to cry and hides his face in the pillows.

"Good night."

Where were the warning signs? Allen is dazed. He doesn't know where his glasses are. He makes a cup of tea and burns his right hand. He imagines Kanda rushing up, scolding him. But is that something Kanda really would do? It is in his mind, after all. Allen puts his hand under running water. He thinks he might faint. Kanda would not be there to catch him.

"Good night."

There is something in Kanda's bones, something that makes him itch. He wants to lash out like a wounded animal. He wants to run. When did he become so grounded? When did something ever tie him down? He waits for Allen to fall asleep and watches him as he always does, but now with vigilance.

"Good night."

There is a kiss and a smile. Allen is happy. Kanda is terrified.

"Good night."

"Who knows what will happen?" Lavi muses over coffee. Allen wanted to hear something more optimistic, but Lavi is never one to lie blatantly to his face. "I think you know it won't be easy, but you're both stubborn, so if nothing else, you two will persist until the end." He sips and hides the worry that keeps him from spilling out every dark secret he knows about Kanda.

"Good night."

Long dark hair. For a moment, Allen thinks it is Lenalee. He blushes. Then the owner of the long dark hair turns around. Allen's blush deepens in color. He cannot concentrate for the rest of the class

"Good night."

He tries it out as a greeting and uses it on the first person he sees. The surly Asian man barely reacts and continues on his way. On a whim, Allen decides to attend his Asian-American studies class, even though it was a 6-8pm class.

"Good night."

It is an adieu, words of farewell. Why is it not a greeting, like "Good morning" or "Good evening?" Allen wonders to himself.


	4. Interlude

There was a two-month span in the course of their relationship that Allen revisits every so often.

In that two-month span, there was no relationship.

Lenalee didn't say anything when he broke the news to her, only pursing her lips before quickly changing the topic. She knew better than to comfort Allen by now. It was also no secret that she didn't entirely approve of the relationship to begin with.

"You don't know him," Allen had said when she first voiced such concerns when they had started dating.

"I don't need to know him," was her patient reply. "I know _you_."

_I know how you have changed._

So Lenalee said nothing, not even when Allen started calling her in the early hours of the morning, sometimes drunk, sometimes crying, sometimes both. She said nothing when Allen occasionally asked her to turn away from him, usually when she wore her long hair in a ponytail, so he could stare at her back. She said nothing when Lavi and Allen argued about the way Allen was being treated, because she knew she was fortunate to know that Lavi was wholly hers.

Two months.

Two months Allen spent hunting for the tiniest scrap of information, either through mutual acquaintances or social media. He resisted the urge to call Tiedoll in moments of melancholy, but the one time he did, he was told that Tiedoll was on a trip in Italy.

Two months Allen spent trying to remember how he had lived his life before sharing it with someone else. He forgot at times that he didn't need to consult anyone regarding his plans for the weekend. He would buy pomegranate juice and only remember in the middle of unloading his groceries that he didn't drink pomegranate juice. He slept in the middle of the queen-sized bed and woke up huddled on one side.

He read and he drank tea and he jogged in the mornings before work.

He wondered if it would have been worse if he had said, "I love you," before the break-up.

He wondered if it would have been better instead.

There were dates. Three of them, three different people. A kind man with unruly hair and glasses. A timid woman with frightened eyes and the sweetest smile. A mere girl with unmeasurable fortitude and sass.

He apologized to every single one at the end of the date. They all smiled at him and left with no hard feelings.

It was Lenalee who told him, "He's back in town."

She told him grudgingly, but without regret. She knew already that he would wait for as long as it took. Allen himself didn't know that he was waiting, but that was exactly what he had been doing for the last two months.

That was why they came back together so effortlessly.

Lenalee said nothing and Lavi argued with Allen, but either way, Kanda forced his way back into Allen's life.

They never did speak of that past. So Allen revisits every now and then. The two months that were past contain too many questions, yet at some point, the questions cease to matter.

"I'll wait," he says to Kanda.

And Kanda, with his fathomless eyes, says, "I know."


End file.
